Lonnie Walker IV’s inspirational Instagram post after falling out of rotation

Through the first couple of months of this season, shooting guard Lonnie Walker IV had the third-highest scoring average on the Los Angeles Lakers.

They had signed him last summer for the taxpayer mid-level exception of nearly $6.5 million. Although he had been an inconsistent player during his first four NBA seasons, he was showing a unprecedented level of productivity.

Through his first 31 games of the season, he averaged 15.1 points a game while shooting 39.3% from 3-point range. He was arguably outplaying his contract.

But Walker suffered a knee injury in late December that sidelined him until almost the end of January, and just when it looked like he was going to get back into the swing of things, the Lakers acquired Malik Beasley.

Beasley’s arrival relegated Walker to the netherworld of being the team’s third-string shooting guard.

He took to Instagram to try to cheer himself up.

With LeBron James expected to miss multiple weeks with a right foot injury, perhaps Walker will get on the court more often, which will mean more shots for him.